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ASA NEWSLETTER
 
 
September 1999
Volume 63
Number 9
 

FAER REPORT

Meeting the Needs of the Practicing Anesthesiologist

This year's Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) Panel on "Meeting the Needs of the Practicing Anesthesiologist" at the ASA Annual Meeting will take a critical look at the current system of continuing medical education, stimulate discussion regarding how a practicing anesthesiologist can make the most of this system and speculate on how it might be improved in the future:

  • Does the system make sense? Following four years of very structured medical school training, then at least four years of reasonably structured residency, practicing anesthesiologists are now "on their own" to maintain a knowledge base throughout a 30-plus-year career.
  • What can modern technology add? Should residency programs take on continuing responsibility for education?
  • Should there be any kind of structured organization to the whole "system" to ensure that people have the right resources to keep up? Should this have anything to do with recertification?

Moderated by Sean Kennedy, M.D., FAER Board member and faculty member in the University of Pennsylvania Department of Anesthesia, the panel will begin with brief, informal presentations, aimed at stimulating discussion among panelists and the audience.

  • Myer Rosenthal, M.D., Professor of Anesthesia, Medicine and Surgery, and Program Director of Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine at Stanford University Hospital, will discuss the role of residency programs.
  • David Longnecker, M.D., Chair of Anesthesiology at the University of Pennsylvania, former Director of the ABA, former President of the NRMP and editor of several major anesthesia textbooks, will look at the role of textbooks, journals and other media.
  • Alan Jay Schwartz, M.D., Director of Education at St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York, has a master's in education and a long interest in medical educational issues. He will examine the role of didactic sessions (meetings, refresher courses, etc.) in continuing education.
  • Fred G. Davis, M.D., Chair of the Anesthesia Department at Lahey Clinic in Burlington, Massachusetts, will provide the practicing anesthesiologist's perspective.

The panel's goal is to stimulate discussion about this important topic. Audience participation is a vital part of the discussion, so bring your thoughts, opinions and questions on October 12 at the ASA Annual Meeting.

ASA, Abbott Laboratories and FEAR Host Resident Scholar Program

FAER and ASA are pleased to announce that Abbott Laboratories has agreed to sponsor the 1999 Resident Scholar Program at the ASA Annual Meeting in Dallas. Shirley A. Graves, M.D., University of Florida, is coordinating the arrangements. The valuable program is an educational experience for residents from different anesthesiology programs across the United States. Residents gain knowledge of FAER and its missions and of ASA and its process of establishing standards of practice and professional behavior for the specialty. The activities of the program allow the residents to see the importance of the commitment ASA, FAER, individual anesthesiologists and corporations make to the long-term scientific development of anesthesiology. The program begins Saturday morning with a one-hour orientation. Speakers at this orientation session include:

  • John B. Neeld, Jr., M.D., ASA President, "ASA, an Organization With Many Missions";
  • Carl C. Hug, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., FAER President, "FAER, Our Mission";
  • Michael F. Roizen, M.D., Chair, University of Chicago, "FAER Was and Is Important to Me";
  • Joseph F. Antognini, M.D., University of California, Davis, "My FAER Grant";
  • Stephen J. Kimatian, M.D., Chair, Resident Component Governing Council, "Resident Involvement in ASA."

The Resident Scholars attend the House of Delegates meeting on Sunday, the FAER panel on Tuesday and are encouraged to attend refresher courses, workshops, problem-based learning sessions and the scientific and industry exhibits. The program ends with a reception and dinner attended by ASA officers, FAER directors, Abbott representatives and the residents. The dinner provides an opportunity for informal conversations that often leave the residents better informed and more enthusiastic about their specialty. The importance of the Resident Scholar Program is that it enhances positive views of ASA among 35 residency programs that participate each year. It may be like a pebble thrown in a pond, with a large ripple effect in the future.



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